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This is a good problem to have for Stern and his successor, deputy commissioner Adam Silver. They clearly are smitten with the potential global impact that could come with Sacramento's lead investor, Indian software tycoon Vivek Ranadive, but might have a hard time denying Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his deep pockets. Rumors of expansion as the potential solution to satisfy both sides persist, but Stern has said consistently it is not an option at the moment. The reality remains that one city will go home unhappy. The Sacramento group needs eight votes to block the agreed-upon deal that is in place with the Seattle investment group and the Maloof family that owns the team. The Sacramento group, headed by former NBA point guard and Mayor Kevin Johnson, hopes the board will accept its deal that is expected to match the Seattle group's. Whichever way this goes, Stern's final say will guide it. USA Today Sports

Sacramento Kings, Steve Ballmer, Kevin Johnson, Adam Silver, Vivek Ranadive 

Hedge fund manager Chris Hansen outlined the financial terms, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer expressed Seattle's enthusiasm for bringing an NBA team back to the city and Sacramento Kings owner George Maloof Jr. "expressed strong support for moving forward with the deal that they've made with Chris Hansen," Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said. In a presentation on Wednesday to an NBA joint committee made up of owners and team representatives, the Seattle group made its formal to buy the Kings from the Maloof family, move the franchise to Seattle and rename the team the Seattle SuperSonics. USA Today Sports

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, George Maloof, Steve Ballmer, Chris Hansen 

Think I’'ll stick with what one league insider told me this week when asked about all of Johnson’'s efforts to assemble an ownership group to challenge the $525 million valuation of the franchise that the Maloof Brothers negotiated in their sale agreement to the Seattle group headed by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer: Sacramento is undeniably “gaining momentum” in terms of keeping the Kings. Reason being: All the recent signals emanating from New York, as one source aptly put it, describe how “really hard to call” this has all gotten. ESPN.com

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer, Kevin Johnson, Chris Hansen 

That sentiment, though, also has to give Sactown hope, given how widely it was assumed heading into the All-Star break that the Kings were all but Seattle-bound already. The NBA Board of Governors will vote on the proposals from the two cities April 18-19 after the Sacramento counter offer is formally presented to league officials next week. ESPN.com

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer, Kevin Johnson, Chris Hansen 

Jeff Zillgitt: First NBA owner on Forbes' new list of 'The World's Billionaires' is POR's Paul Allen at No. 53. Steve Ballmer, trying to buy SAC, is 51st. Twitter @JeffZillgitt

Portland Trail Blazers, Paul Allen, Steve Ballmer 

The proposed bid of 24-Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov and billionaire Ron Burkle to purchase the Sacramento Kings and construct a downtown arena has a chance to challenge a Seattle ownership's group to move the franchise. Mastrov and the local investors' bid is "slightly lower," than the $341 million that the Chris Hansen-Steve Ballmer group has agreed to pay for the available 65 percent of the Kings, a high-level source involved in the talks told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday night. "They have a shot," the source said. "It's still a long shot, but the bid will be close enough to cause real debate." Yahoo! Sports

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer, Ron Burkle, Chris Hansen, Mark Mastrov 

Burkle and the city have agreed on a deal to construct a new arena in the city's downtown. Johnson recruited $20 million in local investors to purchase 7 percent of the Kings' ownership stake available in bankruptcy court, as well as $50 million in business sponsorships over the next five years for the franchise. Yahoo! Sports

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer, Ron Burkle, Chris Hansen, Mark Mastrov 

While the amount of the Burkle and Mastrov bid was not revealed Thursday, the mayor said it would be "very strong and competitive." Seattle hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer have a binding agreement with the Maloof family to buy the Kings in a deal that values the franchise at $525 million, or about $341 million for the 65 percent they control. A source familiar with the Mastrov offer said it's expected that the NBA will look over the proposal and forward it to the Maloofs, who have the right to "entertain" other offers as backups in case the NBA rejects the Seattle bid. Beyond that, the process isn't quite clear. "It's not like there's a manual for how to do this," the source said. "This is somewhat unprecedented in the history of the league." Tacoma News Tribune

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer, Ron Burkle, Chris Hansen, Mark Mastrov 

City officials have also said the public contribution to the proposal could include land sales, surcharges placed on tickets for events at the arena and assessments paid by property owners near the arena. Asked if Burkle was confident he could fill the gap between what the city can commit to an arena and the final price tag, a source said "that is not going to be an issue." The source said Burkle has limited partners in the deal, a group that could include celebrities and former professional athletes. Tacoma News Tribune

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer, Ron Burkle, Chris Hansen, Mark Mastrov 

Scott Howard-Cooper: A former veteran Kings employee, laughing at Maloof enemy Burkle now officially in the mix: "Imagine Joe's chain smoking right about now!!" Twitter @SHowardCooper

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer, Ron Burkle, Chris Hansen, Mark Mastrov 

The Seattle contingency hoping to build a new arena and relocate the Sacramento Kings to the state of Washington received good news today in a King County Superior Court room. Judge Douglass North ruled in favor of the group led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, explaining that the lawsuit filed by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 19 was meritless at this time, while granting a dismissal of the case. The suit, which was filed under the state of Washington’s Environmental Policy Act, claimed that the Hansen-Ballmer group’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) to build a new arena in the SODO District of Seattle, constituted an agreement, which circumventing the environmental review process, including a mandatory environmental impact study (EIS). Behind the initial argument is the a concern by Local 19 on what they feel would be an adverse effect on traffic and cause additional environmental issues detrimental to the Port of Seattle. Cowbell Kingdom

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer, Chris Hansen 

The Hansen-Ballmer group still face a second law suit claiming that the deal in place violates Seattle’s Initiative 91, which requires the city to make a profit on any public financed sports facility. But the court date for that suit isn’t scheduled until May of 2013, after the NBA Board of Governors are scheduled to make a decision on Seattle’s bid to purchase and relocate the Sacramento Kings to the Pacific Northwest. It is unclear at how the NBA will approach the SODO arena MOU, which has now been deemed a non-legally binding agreement by Hansen-Ballmer, King County, the city of Seattle and Judge North. While today was a victory for the Hansen-Ballmer group, this is just one more page in a long-winded narrative that will play out on April 18-19 at the NBA’s Board of Governors meetings. Cowbell Kingdom

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer, Chris Hansen 

NBA Commissioner David Stern says the group that has reached agreement to purchase the Sacramento Kings has formally filed to relocate the franchise to Seattle. Stern spoke on Wednesday night in Minneapolis before the Timberwolves hosted San Antonio. He called the Seattle group, led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, "very strong," and that the appropriate committees have been convened to look over the proposed sale of the Kings and the prospective move to Seattle. The deadline for teams to file for relocation is March 1 USA Today Sports

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, David Stern, Steve Ballmer, Chris Hansen 

Liz Mullen: The recently-formed, 5-member Interim NBPA Exec Committee has hired the law firm of Orrick Herrington to advise them. #NBA Twitter @SBJLizMullen

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, David Stern, Steve Ballmer, Chris Hansen 

Seattle does have to deal with the unknown of the legal tangles, but that might only delay the inevitable if the courts rule in favor of the sale to the group led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer. Sacramento interests could force the uncertainty late enough into the summer that the NBA would have to keep the team in Northern California one more campaign, only to have Hansen-Ballmer win and 2013-14 as the official lame-duck season in town. The Board of Governors meets April 18-19, so Johnson still has time. But he needs something more than a good sales pitch at All-Star weekend the end of next week, and he certainly needs to stop missing timelines that didn't need to be set in the first place. Perception. Sulia

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer, Kevin Johnson, Chris Hansen 

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's participation in the group trying to move the Sacramento Kings to Seattle has riled a powerful California state lawmaker, who has hinted at retaliation against the software giant. California Senate leader Darrell Steinberg recently sent a letter to the state's procurement agency, asking for a listing and total value of all contracts the state has with Microsoft. In his letter to the director of the California Department of General Services, Steinberg said he'd been distressed by recent reports of Ballmer's involvement in the pending sale of the Kings. "If true, I am troubled that a company and a CEO that has for so long enjoyed a prosperous and beneficial working relationship with the state of California and its taxpayers would blatantly engage in activities which are clearly and measurably detrimental to our state's job and revenue base," wrote Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat who is president pro tempore of the California State Senate. equities.com

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer 

The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because it was a private meeting. While the Maloof family that currently owns the team has an agreement with the Seattle-based group led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to sell 65% of the team for approximately $341 million, the deal must still be approved by the NBA's Board of Governors. Burkle -- the supermarket mogul who is part owner of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins -- has been planning to make a competing bid with fellow money man Mark Mastrov, the Northern California-based founder of 24-Hour Fitness, in an attempt to convince the NBA to keep the team in Sacramento. The goal all along from the Sacramento side has been to force the NBA into a tough decision by putting together an arena plan and a bid that's competitive with the Hansen-Ballmer group. USA Today Sports

Sacramento Kings, David Stern, Steve Ballmer, Ron Burkle, Chris Hansen, Mark Mastrov 

The push to keep the Sacramento Kings from moving to Seattle has officially become political. And the gloves, as was expected, have come off in this seemingly-unfair fight. In a letter intended for California Department of General Services director Fred Klass that was distributed to USA TODAY Sports and a select few other media outlets, California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg raises questions and concerns about Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's involvement in the proposed purchase of the Kings while lobbing veiled threats all along the way. Ballmer is part of the Seattle-based group that has reached an agreement with the Maloof family that owns the team to buy a majority interest for approximately $341 million (based on a $525 million total valuation of the franchise). USA Today Sports

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Steve Ballmer 

Nearly five years after the Seattle SuperSonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder and the jewel of a city in the Northwest lost the NBA franchise that had been there since 1967, it appears the Sacramento Kings will be recycled there. Yet after a deal was finalized over the weekend between the Maloof family that owns the Kings and the Seattle group led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and the Nordstrom family, the next question is whether anything can stand in the way of the Sonics' return. USA Today Sports

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Joe Maloof, Steve Ballmer, Chris Hansen 

While Hansen deemed the deal "binding" in his statement on Monday, Stern has already made it clear to Sacramento mayor and former NBA point guard Kevin Johnson will have a chance to present a counter-offer to the Board of Governors, though the timing is not yet known. What's more, a person with knowledge of the Maloofs' situation told USA TODAY Sports that it remains possible – depending on how the NBA handles the process going forward – they could sell to a Sacramento-based group if a competitive offer materialized. The person requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation. USA Today Sports

Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Joe Maloof, Steve Ballmer, Kevin Johnson, Chris Hansen